TWD: Chocolate Armagnac Cake

Oh my gosh, I darn near forgot to post my Tuesday's with Dorie recipe for this week. Lyb of and then I do the dishes chose Chocolate Armagnac Cake - The Cake That Got Me Fired.

This is going to be a quick post. You see, I should be working on my entry for my cake club's cake show this weekend. (If you're interested, you can read about our club on the web site ---> here.) I am so out of practice with cake decorating. I think I decorated two whole cakes last year. Whereas I was happy about my show cake from last year, I am most definitely not happy about this year's. I still don't even have a clear idea of the design. Not good!!

But anyway, you came here to talk about chocolate cake, not to hear me whining! Here's my cake along with one of the gumpaste flowers I'll be using on my cake show entry.


I thought this cake was OK. I guess I prefer "regular" chocolate cake, or brownies. I used brandy but really wasn't able to detect it in the finished cake. Lots of folks were leery about the prunes in the cake. They didn't bother me, I thought they were a nice little textural surprise and I really couldn't detect a "pruney" taste.

I did like the dark and shiny glaze. I will definitely use that recipe again.

I thought the lumpy bumpy little cake was cute before I leveled the top and covered it with glaze. (I halved the recipe and baked in a 6-inch pan.)



There's something magical about the mixing of eggs and sugar with chocolate...



OK, that's it! Now I must get back in the kitchen and figure out what I'm doing with this blasted show cake. I'm crossing my fingers hoping for some divine inspiration between now and Friday.